Deukmejian Signs Bill Requiring Seat Belt Use : State's Law Linked to Federal Rule in Calling for Air Bags or Other Safety Devices on New Cars

SACRAMENTO — Motorists who climb behind a wheel or slide into the passenger seat of a car or truck in California after Jan. 1 will face a mandatory seat belt law similar to those enacted in 16 other states. In one crucial respect, California's law will break new ground.

The seat belt bill, signed Tuesday by Gov. George Deukmejian, also requires auto makers, beginning in 1989, to equip all new cars sold in the state with air bags or other automatic restraints--making California the first state to involve itself in what until now has been exclusively a federal issue.

In signing the bill, Deukmejian expressed reservations about the state thrusting itself into the air bag controversy. The governor said he is concerned about a provision of the bill that could cause the law to self-destruct.

U.S. Rule Involved

That would happen if the federal government cited the passage of mandatory seat belt laws like California's as cause to rescind its own rule that auto makers equip all cars with air bags by 1989.

Deukmejian said he signed the bill despite his reservations because the seat belt requirement "will lead to the saving of lives."

The law will require drivers and passengers to use the seat belts already in their cars or face fines of $20 for first offenses and up to $50 for subsequent violations.

Motorists can be cited only if stopped for another traffic violation. Although drivers and passengers can be ticketed individually, drivers will be held legally responsible for passengers under 16 years of age who fail to buckle up.

Old Cars Exempted

California's seat belt law exempts older cars that were not fitted with belts as original equipment, as well as motorists with physical disabilities that make seat belt use impractical. Also exempted are some delivery vehicles.

Insurance companies, consumer groups and other strong supporters of the law contend that its air bag provisions will cause auto makers to equip their new cars nationwide with the crash devices.

They are confident because the California law will apply to more than 20 million people--10% of the nation's motoring public--who drive or ride in automobiles and risk being among about 3,000 killed annually on California roadways.

These supporters also believe that the law will help prod the federal government into enforcing national air bag regulations.

"This will send a clear message . . . that the Legislature and the public want this technology to be available," said Brian O'Neill, president of the Washington-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

State officials are prepared to spend up to $5 million studying what, if any, effect the seat belt provisions may have in reducing highway carnage and educating motorists before the law takes effect on New Year's Day.

Private industry, including auto manufacturers--which have been stung by criticism for their long battle against air bags--are expected to spend additional millions on a pro-seat belt campaign that would involve television announcements, billboards and direct mailings.

Enforcement Problems

Law enforcement officials meanwhile have begun to set guidelines for dealing with what are likely to be some thorny enforcement problems.

A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said, for example, that motorists will be given a "grace period" of 30 to 60 days during which only warnings will be issued. Other police agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, expect to begin issuing citations the day the law takes effect.

Violation of the air bag provisions would bring fines of up to $500 a day for auto manufacturers that fail to equip cars sold in the state with crash devices. That provision will take effect in 1989, the same year that federal law requires auto manufacturers to equip new cars with automatic crash protection devices, such as air bags. (The federal requirement is to be gradually implemented over several years, beginning with 10% of new cars in the 1987 model year.)

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), who authored the California law, demanded that an air bag provision be included because he expects the federal government to renege on its own air bag rules.

Escape Clause Readied

This seems probable because U.S. Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole has fashioned an escape clause for the auto industry that would scrap the federal air bag requirements if states with two-thirds of the nation's population enact qualifying seat belt laws.

Dole refused to say which of the new laws qualify under her rule, but the 17 states that have acted thus far account for slightly more than half the U.S. population. If Dole counts California in an effort to open the air bag escape hatch, a unique feature of the bill, drafted by several major insurance companies, would result in the California seat belt law being scrapped in its entirety.